When I have information to share, such as documenting a process or communicating an idea, I have no better tool at my disposal than Central Desktop's Native Online Documents. I can quickly and easily create a document and distribute it to my team, or other teams within the company, all without leaving my browser. Furthermore, the other members of my team can edit the document and add their own thoughts, notes and ideas. Because these documents live in Central Desktop there is a long-term record of them that is readily accessible by search, tagging, or browsing the Files & Discussions area of the workspace.

Don't get me wrong, if I need to write a wordy document where formatting and page margins are crucial, I'm still going to use a word processor like MS Word.  And if I have a question for a specific person in the office I will send an email or IM. Online documents are not meant to replace these other tools and it is important to use the right tool for the job. That said, using online documents for day-to-day communications, agendas, meeting minutes, notes, ideas, process and training docs, etc. has many advantages over word processors and email. See The Bad in Email for example. 

"Collaboration"

This word gets thrown around a lot so I'll keep it in context. Every online document or wiki page in Central Desktop has a button at the top which allows any member to "Edit This Page".  While emails age and die, and word processor files require downloading and editing in a proprietary application, Central Desktop's native online documents can be edited in-line and online, without downloading anything. Any member can expand on an online document -- add to it, edit it, comment on it, or link to it. Personal productivity tools like Google Docs are great for personal documents -- you can even share them with a few people. However those documents need to be shared one at a time and don't handle conflict resolution when multiple people are editing them. Central Desktop's online documents are automatically shared with the members of the workspace, so there is no need to apply specific permissions to each document or invite others to view it. You can see when they are being edited by another member so it's easy to avoid editing conflicts.

Archiving and Version Control

Online documents can be stored in perpetuity and can be found with a simple search. As team members use them, a knowledge base develops. A change log, or revision history, is automatically stored with the document. Any member can view previous versions and compare them side by side. If a previous version is preferred or changes were made by mistake, the document can be rolled back to a previous version with a couple of mouse clicks.

Linking Information

One of the most powerful aspects of online documents is the ability to bring information from many different sources into one place. Any type of file can be inserted into and attached to an online document, whether it already exists in the workspace or it's on your hard drive. Easily link to other pages within your workspace to external websites. Use application blocks to easily add dynamic information from other areas of the workspace such as folder or database views, task lists, calendars, team members, and more. Or link other online documents together to create your own wiki.

Email Them

We all still use email and we probably will for the foreseeable future. Online documents integrate with email in two important ways. Any online document can be shared with other people via email. An existing online document can be sent via email from a workspace or you can notify other members when creating or updating one. Members can subscribe to online documents and get email notifications when changes are made or comments are added. The second way is to create online documents directly from email. Each folder in a workspace has a unique email address which allows you to send an email directly into it as an online document. The Central Desktop plug-in for Microsoft Outlook makes creating online documents by email even easier.

Like anything else in Central Desktop, online documents can be accessed securely from anyplace with an Internet connection. In fact I wrote this article in an online document, starting it at home and finishing it at the office before sharing it with our Marketing crew to post on the blog.

Check out these related articles in our Help Center for more information. And as always, contact support@centraldesktop.com with any questions.

Working with Online Docs

Wikis and Wiki Pages

Online Docs: Contents Links and Section Headings

Application Blocks

Microsoft Outlook Integration